Catalinbread Semaphore - Nah...

Bought one on CL last week, messed with it for a half hour and knew right then - too much.

Lots of stuff that thing could do but to access what I want/need w/out a lot of fiddlin' around ?

Wasn't going to happen.

Just sold it on Ebay.

I need a combo boost/trem pedal so there's no drop and it has to do the Fender thing and the cheap amp/Valco thing.

Check out the voodoo lab!

That's on my shortlist !

Check out the voodoo lab!

Yes! More classic style tremolo. Can be smooth or choppy.

I tried out the voodoo lab trem in my local shop. Very nice. It doesn't do a very choppy, fast trem. It sounds a lot like an amp tremolo, which is great, unless you want special effects. But if you wanted special effects, you would have liked the Semaphore.

But if I remember right, it does have a volume control with some ability to boost.

Yes! More classic style tremolo. Can be smooth or choppy.

+1

i think the semaphore is the best sounding tremol...or the most amplike tremolo. but i'm curently using the diamond tremolo for the tap tempo temolo option

Voodoo Labs is great - particularly for the Fender Blackface style trem.

Also, modern TR-2's don't have a volume drop, but look to the Keeley if you actually need a volume knob. Great sine wave, great chop too.

Personally I now use a Demeter Tremulator which was modded (before I owned it) to include a volume knob, I assume to counteract the volume boost they normally have. It's the most "realistic" Fender amp trem i've used. Horrible power jack, though - I ended up drilling it for a battery snap.

Mike:

Best one I've heard is the VFE Old School. The CB Semaphore was my favorite for many years, but now very happy with the VFE. The hard valco chop is the elusive part. Both pedals can do it. I think the CB did it better. In fact, their Valcoder pedal is an enhanced issue of the hard chop only part of the Semaphore circuit. I have a Valcoder (for sale actually), which probably delivers on that promise more than any pedal I've tried.

But I end up preferring the VFE in so many ways, why the Valcoder is up for sale. The VFE has a very well voiced level and depth control.

MD

I had a Semaphore for a couple of years and touted it as "sounding great", but you know what? When I A/B'd it against several other trems, all on the board at the same time, it was just OK. I always found the controls too twiddly for my big fingers, especially live.

I've tried a bunch of trems - VooDoo, SupaTrem, Semaphore, Empress, Babyface, Swamp Thang, Pareidolia (kind of counts), Carl Martin (on my old Quattro), VFE, and I'm sure there's others. These days, I'm using the Diamond and couldn't be happier - it sounds GREAT in a live mix, is very intuitive to use and is built quite well. Diamond has really nailed the tone/form/function thing on this one and on the Memory Lane Jr. and I'm very happy having both on my board.

Thanks for the input guys.

I'll have to check out the VFE.

Of course now Strymon comes out with The Flint and muddies the water further...

No love for the EH Wiggler? I rather like mine... Has anyone had a Wiggler and went with something else?

I had a Wiggler for a while. Great pedal, a bit noisy. Its pretty big though.

Currently, I have an ADA Flanger and an Eventide Timefactor for trem/modulation/time needs. Together and separate, they do enough to get the job done.

It is noisy, but it sounds "right" like a real amp tremolo/vibrato. I'm going with the pedalsnake setup to see if I can get it a bit quieter. Sometimes the noise bothers me but then I think to myself, "I'm really not in the business of being quiet since I play the electric guitar". lol

I will try the timefactor and see if it isn't a viable option.

Timefactor is for delays mostly, but it can do chorus / detunes. The ADA is what I typically use for Leslie sounds or tremolo. The ADA going into a detuned setting is great for Leslie swirls.

Do you find the ADA Flanger to be noisy like the Wiggler?

Nope. The ADA circuit was way ahead of its time. It has a threshold knob that acts as a gate for noise. Plus, it runs on its own power supply so it has tons of headroom.

Ok, you've baited me well and I think I'll go find one to try... I have the TC Electronics Stereo Chorus Pitch Modulation and Flanger which I like for chorus so far. Sounds like a great pedal...

The new Suhr Jackrabbit is getting some attention too. Might consider the Flint for my little backup/direct board with a Tech 21 Blonde and Jetter Gold Standard.

I had a Wiggler and besides being noisy as all get out, it had an LED under the tube to "light it up" - even though they claimed it was running enough juice to actually use the tube.

Bye-bye Wiggler...


I'm starting to think about The Flint every half hour and look around at pedals in my house with the stink-eye and make mental calculations...